After a short intermission, I am back in Urbana/Champaign again. I have dropped off my rental car and found a hotel. Plan is to head westward direction Springfield tomorrow morning.

It was nice to get a short break and come through Austin again. I got my bicycle tuned up including replacing the chain and cassette. The drive train wasn’t as stretched/worn as I anticipated but good to get this done as a preventative measure. I left a few small things in my storage locker and also picked up a speaker to try on the bike and a pair of shorts that was one size smaller. I also stopped in for medical appointment and updated prescriptions. Also nice to visit with friends – though I didn’t stop through work or inspect my townhouse.

Austin was in middle of a heat wave, with high temperatures mostly above 100F and heat index even higher. This was a good reminder how fortunate I’ve been with cooler temperatures further north, though I expect some hot times particularly in July and August. Perhaps a good excuse to take a weather rest day here or there. I was mostly inside during hot times of the day and ended up taking several online Coursera classes.

I also made a few minor updates to the web pages including figuring out how Strava routes embed and updating the photos page with more recent pictures. Below is an example of a Strava map properly embedded. Not particularly exciting other than showing how I bicycled from dropping off the rental car to the furthest southwest motel I could find.

Elapsed Time	Moving Time	Distance	Average Speed	Max Speed	Elevation Gain	Calories Burned
00:37:33 hours	00:36:17 hours	5.45 mi.	9.01 mph	14.53 mph	118.11 ft.	352 kcal

Looking forward to being back on the road again.